North Patagonia, Chile, Jan 16 to 19

January 16 – This day was one of our two long bus days, when we crossed the Andes into Chile and drove to Puerto Varas on Lago Llanquihue (pronounced yahn KEE whey). The most interesting part of the drive was near the border where we could see the ash from the volcanic eruptions in the last year or so that are several feet deep in some places. Puerto Varas is quite a lovely town, with a small vibrant downtown. Our hotel was close in and right on the lake, with a great view of a perfectly conical, glacier-covered volcano on the other side. We walked around and were introduced to several potential dinner spots and a shop for lapis lazuli jewelry. The town was also setting up for a big beer festival the next night.

Ash from the volcano covers the landscape at the pass between Argentina and Chile

Most of us stopped at an ATM to refurbish our collection of Chilean pesos and I was reminded of why Jim & I have moved away from using ATMs in our recent international trips. The exchange rate we got was not impressive (465 vs. 475 or 480 online) AND we were hit with nearly $10 in fees from the ATM’s bank and our bank, which dropped our effective exchange rate to 435. I had been unimpressed with the 455 we had gotten in Santiago with cash, but it started to look a lot better after this.

Jim and I found a couple purveyors of fresh raspberries on the street, and after verifying the official supermarket raspberry options were unimpressive, bought a container, which we enjoyed the next two mornings to supplement the hotel breakfast. We also checked out the lapis shop and I got a lovely bracelet. (surprise: not earrings!!) We joined several of our compatriots at dinner in a little hole in the wall (Donde el Gordito) that had the best salmon I have ever had anywhere.

Alex zaps Jim with lemon as he preps the clam.

January 17 – In the morning, most of our group joined Alex in an ad-hoc venture to Puerto Montt to the local fish and artisan markets. We all hopped onto a small bus and headed south for 30 minutes to this major port. The fish market had lots of shell fish, and there was a lot of activity in separating said fish from their shells. Sea urchins got the same treatment. At one kiosk, Alex stopped to tell us about a variety of shellfish called ‘Chilean Viagra’ and asked for a volunteer. Jim will eat anything and was standing near Alex, so he got to try it. In the process of prepping it with lemon, Jim got a lemon shot in the eye, and there was a lot of hilarity in general. 

Jim gulps it all at once.

After our introduction, we wondered around and bought some spices and honey that Alex recommended and also got shrimp and crab empanadas with Randy in a TEENSY restaurant. Then it was time to shop, and I found a very nice heavy serape in red wool. The pin-type closure I wanted for it was done by a famous guy who wanted about twice as much as the garment cost, so I passed on it. 

The entire kitchen  (and hosts) at our lunch spot

The lovely lady who sold me the red serape

In the afternoon, we headed out of town, stopping along the lake for great photos of the volcano. We headed towards Petrohue Falls (Saltos in Spanish, meaning ‘jump’ because of how the water jumps over the rocks). This was a beautiful spot with lots of other people and extensive metal walkways to allow much better vantage points than we would have had otherwise. We also took a short hike to a pool past the bottom of the falls that provided a much calmer view of the area and many fewer other tourists. 

Saltos de Petrohue

Back on the bus, we headed to a lake and had dinner with a  local fisherman at his home in a national park. His ancestors had lived there before it became a park, so his holding is grandfathered in and he has built it up to provide lodging and camping facilities for visitors. We took a small launch to his property and walked up to the visitor dining room, and had a delightful meal. 

It was a bit windy for our boat ride to dinner

 January 18 – This was the day we took the ferry to Chiloe Island for a 2-day visit. On the way down, we stopped at a school that the Grand Circle Foundation has targeted to assist. Company employees and contractors have participated in the effort, rebuilding the floors and repainting a school that was targeted to be abandoned. Even though school was not in session, many of the children and parents came to show us around and welcome us. There is still much work to be done, and visitors can make contributions through Grand Circle Foundation, which covers all the administrative expenses so that all of our dollars go directly to the school projects. We were treated to a local dance demonstration by a young (10-12 yr old) couple who had just won a national dance competition. Following that, several of our group danced with the children, rounding out our time there. 

Dance contest winners

Dancing with the 'stars'... Bud, Randy, and Shaila

The ferry ride to Chiloe was pretty quick, and we got a chance to see many of the aquatic birds as we crossed. Chiloe Island is considered by the Chileans to be a sample of what Chile was like years ago. Although it is sort of tucked in along the coast of Chile, it is officially surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The side that faces west is much harsher and more sparsely populated than the east coast. We went south to Punihuil Wild Life Reserve, which has several small rocky islands that host a penguin colony during breeding season. The ride there in our bus was pretty exciting because the main road is being rebuilt and the detour  roads were gravelly, narrow, and steep – kind of like driving in some of the hills around our house – one lane roads with two-way (and frequent) traffic.

Pelicans escorting us to Chiloe Island

View of the Pacific from a Chiloe Island Road...note the shape of the tree. A bit windy here.

The beach at Punihuil Reserve. The two lumpy islands are the penguin rookeries.

After lunch overlooking the beach, we loaded into a large launch to circle the islands and get a glimpse of the Magellanic penguins. The chicks are getting pretty big and nearly done moulting. A major challenge to boarding the boat is a complete lack of docking facilities. The boats are at the end of a long rope tethered to the beach and the boat employees are all wearing hip waders. The solution they came up with was tall-wheeled carts for us tourists – they load us onto the cart on the beach and then push the cart out to the boat for us to hop onto it. The secret is the height of the wheels which kept our feet above water level.

Boarding a boat

In addition to lots of penquins, we also saw seals and other birds. The penquins were not as numerous as those we saw in Antarctica as well as being smaller. They were also much more difficult to see (and photograph) against the rocky islands that were the same color as they were compared to Antarctica with its snow and lighter colored rocks.

Magellanic penguins. The lumpy one of the right is a moulting chick

Back in Chiloe, we got a short overview of the town of Ancud on our way to the hotel, which  was fairly rustic, on a bluff overlooking the ocean. One of the most interesting features of the town (and the Island) to me was the construction. Carpenters here ‘signed’ their work in the shape and design of the shingles they put (mostly) on the front of the houses. I took a bunch of shingle photos and hope to put them in some sort of a collage later. We walked into the town and checked out the grocery stores – we always look for fresh fruit and like to explore other people’s ideas about junk food and chocolate. The central square was quite busy and featured stone statues of several local creatures – like an ugly woman who is irresistible to men whom she seduces. There was also a significant artisan’s market, but we didn’t find anything to die for.

Shingle shapes indicate the identity of the carpenter.

January 19 – Today, we hopped on our bus to drive to the most populated area of the island, the middle of the east side, a village called Castro. We stopped along the way at the location of one of the travel brochure photos for this trip – a set of the palafitos or stilt homes, placed so that they are convenient to the water for the boaters but not inundated by the tides. The tide was out when we stopped and it looked kind of shabby. 

When we got to a local market, we were divided into teams with a shopping assignment: we wree to locate and purchase (for less than 1000 pesos) something for which we only had the mapuche word – no hope of translating, and little or no English spoken. We had done something similar in Mongolia and found that our pronunciation was so wretched (or the locals so willing to toy with us) that what we bought had no relationship to what we were looking for, so I approached this adventure with some skepticism. When we entered the market, we were a bit ahead of our teammates (who had the cash), so I asked the first lady what our word meant (Que es …..) and she immediately pointed to fingerling potatoes which she was willing to sell for 1000 pesos. Because of the Mongolia experience, I moved a bit further on and pointed to more fingerling potatoes and asked what they were and got the Spanish name (papas something), and then was unsure who to believe. By now, Corinne and Marty and surfaced and we shared our ‘research’ and they went off with the cash and with much difficulty, talked yet another purveyor into parting with a bag of fingerlings for 900 pesos. It turned out that the first lady had been totally truthful. I think it helped that we had a printed word to work from instead of just an auditory memory – no written anything in Mongolia. We also bought a short but enormously fat carrot, and apple empanada and a luscious periwinkle skein of wool, (which I have no idea what I am going to knit it into). 

Indoor market with lots of goodies

 Back on the bus, we visited one of 16 cathedrals built entirely with wood (except for tin exteriors) using vaulted designs intended for stone. It was absolutely wonderful inside. Alex connected us with a local medicine woman and we learned about herbal remedies. Our next stop was a knitting cooperative, teaching women how to use natural dyes and to make things to sell. We got a demonstration on how to make knitting yarn from raw wool and then how to dye it. I bought a wonderful pair of heavy socks. 

Wooden Cathedral

Demonstrations

Jim with our co-op hosts

 Our last adventure of the day was to drive out into the country to visit a local family and see how to make (and enjoy) a ‘curanto’ meal – cooking in a pit with hot stones. Normally, they do this inside a building, but it was so unseasonably hot, that they set up the pit outside. Once the stones are heated, layers of food are added on top, starting with clams, then potatoes, and various types of meat and sausage. A layer of leaves is added, then some breads, then lots more leaves, plastic, and sod to hold in the heat. One side gets a vent, and the whole thing is ready to eat in about an hour. 

Adding more layers of food to the curanto

Plastic and sod on top to hold in the heat

 While we waited, we were invited inside for a pisco sour and a cooking demonstration. Once again, Jim was in the right (or wrong?) place at the right time and got pressed into service, apron, chef’s hat and all. He got to mix up the potato, flour, and egg dough with his hands (carefully cleaned first) and then help to make the round little breads which baked rapidly and we scarfed down eagerly. Dinner was plentiful and wonderful.

Jim starting his cooking. It looks like Alex is in the back having a drink....

Jim doesn't look like he's enjoying doing the mixing nearly as much as Alex is enjoying watching.